Transportation
Making It Safe to Walk Where Traffic Is Deadly
Santo Domingo has the worst rate of traffic fatalities in the world, but Maribel Villalona is remaking the capital for pedestrians.
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic—When this city was the seat of Spanish rule in the New World, colonial noblewomen strolled the Calle de las Damas for their afternoon walks. Cobblestones were sailed across the Atlantic to build it, making the aptly named Street of the Ladies the first street paved by Europeans in the Americas.
Today, the half-mile stretch looks much the same as it did in 1502: flanked by grand 16th-century buildings. But little semblance of the bygone era's tranquility remains. Pedestrians squeeze past each other on narrow sidewalks while lines of automobiles rumble past.